Finding Your Mate
by JuneBreeze
Summary: Draco comes into his inheritance on his 18th birthday and instantly knows he must find his mate. She is now his to cherish, love, and protect. What happens, however, when he goes about doing this by kidnapping the one Hermione Granger from her bed and bringing her back to the manor? Can they get over their past and learn to accept one another. Rating for later chapters!
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note** : Hi guys! I don't own any of the characters because they all belong to the wonderful JK Rowling. This is the first fic that I am posting so I would love some reviews! Hope everyone is having a great day!

Chapter One

May 16th, 1998

Hermione woke early to the sounds of Ginny's light breathing from the other side of the room. Looking out the window to the dark outside she guessed it was no more than five o'clock in the morning. Sighing, and turning over she tried to close her eyes and go back to sleep but after five minutes of battle flashbacks she gave up. It wasn't uncommon for the Burrow's inhabitants to wake at odd hours fearing they were back at the battle, watching friends and family fall to the dark side. It was, however, upsetting that Hermione found herself two weeks into the summer without one full nights rest. She knew eventually she would have to face the many traumas she and her friends had faced both in the battle and the months leading up to the battle.

Ignoring the fatigue trying to bring her back to sleep and back to her nightmares Hermione got up and slipped on the fuzzy blue slippers she kept next to her bed. Looking one more time, longingly, at her bed and realizing it was a wasted effort she turned to the bedroom door and slipped quietly from the room she shared with her best friend. Taking the stairs quietly she made her way down to the first floor of the Burrow.

Entering the kitchen, Hermione immediately got to work brewing herself a cup of tea the old fashioned muggle way. There was a slight upturn to her lips while she thought of the conversation she always had when Ron saw her making her tea like this.

 _"Mione, you know you're a witch right. There are easier ways to make your tea."_ It sometimes confused all her housemates, besides Harry, when she did simple tasks the muggle way. Most of the time it was out of habit but she and her non-biological brother knew some things really were better off done the muggle way. There was something so extremely satisfying about making her own cup of tea and having it taste just as good, if not better, than when it was done with magic.

After pouring the hot water from the kettle into her favorite red and gold mug Hermione grabbed her favorite tea bag and headed to the table. Staring off into space Hermione was startled when she heard a pecking on the window behind her. Jumping slightly at the noise and trying to slow her racing heartbeat she looked at the clock and realized she had been staring into space for about an hour and was sad to notice her tea was mostly cold. Standing up from the table on slightly shaking legs, due to being startled and her reflexes screaming at herself to prepare for danger, Hermione made her way over to the window and noticed a common Ministry owl waiting for her to open the window.

Once the window was opened the owl flew over to the table, next to Hermione's forgotten cup of tea. Anxiety shot through Hermione knowing why the ministry was sending her the owl. She had written to the ministry three days after the battle explaining her parent's situation and how she needed an international portkey. Even knowing Kingsley was now Minister of Magic did not help Hermione's fear that her request would be declined as international relations have been rocky since the second rise and fall of Voldemort.

The ministry owl started to look annoyed at being kept waiting, for it had a lot of other letters to deliver today as well, and began hooting at the girl in order to get her attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry to keep you waiting," Hermione exclaimed when she realized she was once again guilty of zoning out that day. Walking into the kitchen she removed the lid for the owl treats Ms. Weasley always kept stocked. Hermione grabbed two in order to appease the slightly irritated bird and exchanged them for the letter she had been waiting for. With a sigh of happiness the owl took off through the now open window and Hermione began nervously breaking the Ministries wax seal on the envelope.

 **Dear Miss Granger,**

 **The Ministry of Magic has carefully reviewed the request you have made to receive an international portkey to Australia. It is clear that you have a specific mission involved in your travels. The Australian government has been contacted and once your situation was explained they agreed that you were not looking to enter the country under dark pretenses. I believe it was due to the bravery you showed when dealing with your parents during the war that they have agreed to let you into their country. With their acceptance, however, come a few rules that must be followed while on foreign soil. They hope to reunite you with your parents as quickly as possible and are having the portkey set to initiate travel at 3PM tomorrow, the 17** **th** **of May. You may not conduct magic in front of muggles, with the exception of your parents, so that you may undue to the spell on them. Lastly, you will only have a week maximum to accomplish your goals, as the portkey to return you home activates a week after your arrival.**

 **I hope you are safe and successful in your travels. The Ministry thanks you for all the work you have done in the years of your childhood and are prepared to help in any way they can.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Kingsley Shaklebolt**

 **Minister of Magic**

Hermione didn't realize she was crying until a tear fell onto the letter she was clutching tightly between her fingers. She was overcome with relief knowing the Ministry had fought to allow her access to the foreign country before relationships were fixed due to the war. She would finally be able to see if undoing the magic on her parents memory would be possible and the hope and unknown where causing her emotions to go everywhere. It had been causing Hermione so much pain, for so long, knowing her parents were out there. That they were living lives with different names and different memories, in which she was not a part of.

Lost in her thoughts once again Hermione barely heard the sound of movement upstairs before she realized the house was waking up. She heard the clunky steps of her best friends Ron and Harry before she saw them. It was then that her smile finally dropped. The golden trio had not been separated since Ron had left her and Harry alone in the tent during the Horocrux hunt. She was scared to see how her boys would take her leaving the country alone, while death eaters were still on the loose. She just hoped they would understand that this was something she needed to do.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **May 16** **th** **1998**

The sound of the boys stomping down the stairs could be heard before they came into Hermione's line of vision from her seat at the table. Nervous about the conversation she had to have with her friends Hermione anxiously started biting her lower lip. Hermione looked up from the letter for the first time as the boys walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning Hermione," Harry greeted her lovingly. The boy who lived, though faced with his own demons, was handling the aftershock the war far better than people expected him to. He still woke at odd hours of the night drenched in sweat from nightmares from his snake eyed demon but in terms of other order members he was handling the war well. Hermione heavily suspected that though Harry was upset about some of the outcomes having the weight of the world off his shoulders was exactly what the boy finally needed. He would finally be able to grieve for all he had lost started with his parents and what would have been his childhood, to the friends he lost on the battle field, now that he wasn't always worried about hit next move and how he was supposed to save the wizarding world.

"G' morning," mumbled Ron less enthusiastically as he sat down waving his wand to start the process of making tea. Harry smiled at her and looked down at her tea cup. They loved sharing their inside muggle moments when everyone took magic for granted, for he knew Hermione had made her cup of tea the muggle way.

"Good morning boys. I hope you slept well," Hermione responded hoping they had gotten better nights of sleep than she had. It was when Ron finally had his cup of tea in front of him that he really looked up and noticed both the bags under her eyes and the red puffiness indicated she had both not slept well and cried. He did, however, manage to miss Hermione placing her hands under the table with the note from the Ministry still clutched in her fingertips.

"What's wrong 'Mione? Did you have another rough night? Do you want to talk about it?" Ron asked awkwardly for he never had liked talking much about feelings.

"No, I'm okay. I mean I didn't get a perfect night of sleep but who does now a day. I woke up early and decided to come down and make myself a cup of tea – yes Ron the muggle way!"

Harry who had been staring guiltily at the clock the Weasley's had finally tore his eyes away from the missing hand, which had belonged to Fred, and made his way over to the girl he considered a sister and sat down. Giving her a one armed side hug he looked down and noticed the letter that was held to tightly in his friend's hand.

"Hermione, what do you have there?" Harry questioned as Hermione paled. She was not ready to have this conversation yet for she hadn't thought about what she was going to say.

"Oh… um… well it's just… it's nothing too serious." She paused but had to continue at the questioning glances she was receiving from both of her friends. "It's just a letter I received from the… the Ministry today."

"What for," a new voice belonging to Hermione's female best friend questioned from the stairs leading into the kitchen.

"Well," she started hesitantly, "you all know what I did to my parents to keep them safe during the war." She waited to see all three of her best friends nodding their heads willing her to continue on. "I owled the ministry about a week and a half ago explaining the situation I was in with my parents. I told them about how I obliviated them and sent them to Australia to keep them safe. Kinglsey, I believe, pulled some strings with the Australian government and they are going to allow me access into their country in order to reverse what I did to my parents." Hermione finished her explanation in one fast breath and nervously waited for her friends to reply.

"Oh, Hermione! That's brilliant!" exclaimed Harry first.

"Congratulations Mi," Ginny shouted using the personal nickname she gave her friend as she ran over to give Hermione a hug. "That's wonderful; I was going to ask you about your parents earlier but I didn't know how to bring it up without upsetting you!"

"Thank you guys! I was worried about telling you because I know that there may still be death eaters on the loose but I know I can handle myself and I will only be gone for a week tops. I am so excited, but also nervous, to see my parents again. What if they don't understand why I used my magic against them?"

Before anyone could truly acknowledge her fears more footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Ms. Weasley was the first to come into the kitchen. Quickly followed by her husband and George we had been spending the nights in Charlie's old room. No one in the burrow was handling the after effects of the war well but Ms. Weasley and George were having the hardest times due to loosing Fred. Ms. Weasley was often found crying over anything, especially mistaking George for Fred. George on the other hand had not cried since the battle itself but seemed to hide into himself. He didn't know how to handle being a whole person and not part of a team.

"Who is ready for breakfast? You lot are all far too skinny," asked Ms. Weasley with a slight smile on her face. Hermione noticed during the first week at the burrow that Ms. Weasley seemed most at ease while tending to her remaining family, including her adopted children Hermione and Harry. She had still not gotten over the fact that they were so skinny from their time on the run and had made it her own personal mission to fatten them up with exceptional meals at every opportunity she got.

As everyone tucked into the enormous breakfast laid out on the table Hermione looked over all the members of her extended family. Harry was still sitting next to her and Hermione was so grateful for his always there presence. As close as she was to everyone sitting around the table no one would compare to the brother that she found in Harry. After going through everything that they had went through together it was understandable that they shared a bond like no other. Next to Harry was her one female best friend, Ginny. Though she hadn't always been close to Ginny they had grown to love each other like the sister's they both had desperately wanted as children. She felt lucky to know that she could talk to Ginny about anything and the girl wouldn't judge her but try to understand her side. She was also grateful that Ginny understood the relationship Hermione had with Harry, Ginny's boyfriend.

Sitting at the head of the table was Mr. Weasley. Hermione had come to think of him as her second father figure. He was always willing to lend an ear to her and her troubles, even when he himself had some of his own. She also loved talking to him about all things muggles because she felt like it allowed her to stay in contact with her childhood while in the magical world. Next to him, sitting across from Ginny, was Ms. Weasley, Hermione's second mother. Always putting her children first and tackling problems head on will always be two characteristics Hermione admired about the maternal Weasley. Turning slightly to look at George, Hermione felt nothing but love for the remaining twin. George felt her gaze on him and picked his head up from his breakfast to look her in the eyes. His mouth tilted upwards to give her a small smile. It was well known that Hermione had gotten much closer to the twins after helping them with a few of their products and once they stopped testing their products on first years.

Lastly Hermione looked across from her to Ron. Ron was one of Hermione's best friends, one third of the golden trio. During the battle they had kissed in the heat of the moment and Hermione had been so excited to see what would become of their relationship. She was sad to notice that Ron hadn't ever wanted to talk about anything that had happened during the battle but seemed to become more possessive over her. Hermione had become extremely confused about how she felt about Ron. She had fancied herself in love with her childhood crush during the Horocrux hunt but after he left she just wanted to talk about how they felt. Ron, however seemed to want to forget everything that happened since Dumbledore's death but continue being in a relationship with her. Hermione knew she often over thought about situations so had been trying to go with the flow of their relationship more but it never seemed to click for her.

Looking more closely at Ron now she could see he was glaring at his food and not making eye contact with anyone sitting at the table. Hermione could tell that something was bothering him and thinking back to the conversation before the other Weasley's had entered the room she realized he never responded to her about the letter she received from the Ministry. Watching at how violently he stabbed his eggs with his fork she could tell he wasn't happy about the situation. Guiltily, Hermione returned to her eggs and knew she would have to talk to him alone later. Though she did decide to inform the rest of the Weasley's of her plans since they had a right to know where she would be disappearing to.

"Um… guys I have an announcement to make. As you all know I obliviated my parents and sent them to Australia before the w-war really started." Hermione started, nervously looking around. Harry was giving her a look of encouragement, Ron was still glaring at his food, and Ms. Weasley was giving her the sad look she always gave Hermione when her parents were brought up. Ms. Weasley knew it was very hard and brave that Hermione did what she did to protect her parents. "Well, anyway, I had sent a request to the Ministry for an international portkey so that I would be able to travel to Australia and try to undo the damage that I did to my parents. I received notice this morning that my request has been accepted and that I alone have been granted access to Australia."

After her speech the kitchen became very quiet. Ms. Weasley was looking at her with tears in her eyes.

"Oh sweetie," she said tearfully, "I am so happy you have the chance to go get your parents. No one should have to live without knowing they have a daughter, though I know you did what you had to do and I couldn't be prouder of your bravery. When do you leave?"

"Well, um… that's kinda the thing," Hermione started. "The Australian government wants me in and out of their country as quickly as possible so they arranged the portkey to be tomorrow at 3PM."

"You're leaving tomorrow?" Harry questioned looking more concerned than he did this morning. "Mione, you know there are still death eaters on the loose. They are making you go alone, are you sure someone can't come with you. You know I would go with you?" Before she could respond Ms. Weasley spoke up.

"Hermione, how long will you be there? If you are leaving tomorrow will you be back in two days. You know that is the day of F-Fr-Fred's f-fu-funeral." She said as tears ran down her face.

"Yea, Mione, you can't go this week. Fred's funeral is three days from now and you aren't allowed to miss it." Ron finally spoke up about the idea, looking somewhat pleased with himself that he had a reason for her not go to retrieve her parents.

Hermione looked at the crying Ms. Weasley one more time and realized she was being selfish. How could she think about leaving her second family when they were grieving for their lost song, twin, and brother?

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Hermione whispered through her own tears now. "I wasn't thinking. I was just so excited about the prospect of getting my parents back I didn't think about how you would all feel and I admit in my selfishness I completely forgot that Fred's funeral was being held this week. I will write the Ministry right away to tell them I am not able to make the portkey tomorrow and will make another request later on." Hermione was devastated that she would have to wait longer to go retrieve her parents but she couldn't imagine going if it was going to upset the entire Weasley clan.

Mr. Weasley looked like he was going to reply when he was interrupted by George.

"I think you should go Mione," whispered George. Looking up and seeing her hopeful expression he continued in the most confident voice he had used since the war. "You should go find your parents. I don't know how I would survive without mine; especially knowing they were out there somewhere living a life where they didn't know I existed. If we should learn anything from Fred it should be to live your life to its fullest and that we may not have enough time left. You don't have time to not go retrieve your parents so take the Portkey tomorrow and make our brother Fred proud of you." By the end of his rant he was standing up at the table looking at her expectantly. Not knowing what else to do Hermione got up and ran around the table into his arms crying.

"Thank you George. I love you so much!" As soon as she let go of George Ms. Weasley took her place in his arms giving him a hug so tight it most likely cut off his oxygen.

"He is right of course dear," Ms. Weasley whispered in Hermione's ear hugging her just as she did George the minute earlier. "You must go save the family we have left and when they return of Australia they will come over here for dinner. Oh, I will start designing the menu now; you're much to skinny you know?" And with that and nods of approval from most of the people sitting at the table Hermione sat back down in her seat and finished her breakfast

After the wonderful breakfast prepared by Ms. Weasley the group went their separate ways. Harry had asked Ginny if she wanted to go outside for a walk, which she accepted happily. Ron stormed upstairs and slammed the door to his room shut. Ms. Weasley went into the kitchen and after shooing Hermione away started casting cleaning spells. Mr. Weasley most likely disappeared outside to his shed to investigate what a television was. That left George and Hermione making their way upstairs together.

"George, are you sure you aren't unhappy with me?"

"Of course not," George responded while putting his arm platonically around her shoulders. "I understand why you need to go and I think Fred would understand why you weren't there. Anyway I'm sure you will be thinking of him the whole time." George smiled down at her though a layer of sadness remained in his eyes. He paused outside her door where he knew she was heading and looked like he wanted to say something. Hermione waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts.

"Mione, I don't think Fred would have wanted me to act this way." He started quietly not looking anywhere but at the floor. A drop of water fell to the floor and Hermione strongly suspected it was her friend's tears.

"What way George. How are you supposed to act? You're best friend passed away and no one thinks badly of you for being upset about that"

"No but he would have wanted me to celebrate his life. He wouldn't want me to not open the joke store after the war. I can sometimes hear him yelling at me that people need something to cheer them up and it is our job to make sure we have the best jokes to do it. He would be mad I'm not thinking of ways to get kids out of class. And the worst part is I know he is right cause I would want him to do the same thing if it was the other way around. But every time I come up with an idea I want to bounce it off him and he isn't here and I feel like I can't breathe without him. But I'm gonna try. I owe him that much. So, anyway, to the point, when you get back do you think you will come to the store with me and help me perfect the last product we were working on?" He finally looked up. Tears were clearly in his eyes and Hermione knew they were running down her face. There was still sadness hidden in George's eyes but this time, for the first time, Hermione also saw hope.

After hugging George and ensuring him she would always be there for him they went their separate ways. Hermione finally turned into her room to start packing her beaded bag for her trip to Australia.

/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\

 **Later that Day**

After double checking once again that Hermione had everything she would need for her upcoming trip she made her way out of her room, beaded bag in hand. Hermione walked up to Ron and Harry's door, knowing Harry was sitting outside with Ginny, and knocked on the door. At first she didn't hear any response and was about to turn away from the door when it was finally yanked open to show her very angry boyfriend.

"Um… hi," she started nervously. "I was hoping you would talk to me."

Stepping back Ron let her into the room. Hermione entered awkwardly until she sat at the end his bed and waited for him to sit at the head of the bed facing her.

"What do you want?" He asked rudely and she sighed knowing this wasn't going to be an easy conversation.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about my trip. You didn't really say a lot downstairs when I mentioned it," she nervously chewed her bottom lip waiting for his response. She saw his blue eyes flash angrily before he responded.

"What's there to talk about Hermione? You didn't ask me before you sent the request. You don't care that I don't want my girlfriend leaving the country. You don't care how selfish you are being leaving me in my time of grieving. I always knew you were a selfish bitch but I really would have thought watching people die at the battle would show you there are more important things than yourself."

"Me, being selfish," Hermione screeched jumping off the bed. "You're being selfish! I gave up my parents months ago and I need to go find them. I thought I could count on you to be understanding but I can see I was wrong. Why should my boyfriend care about my happiness? How I was even supposed to talk to you about this? You never want to talk about the war!"

"You're supposed to ask for my opinion. I would have told you that you didn't need to go. Hell your parents are probably better off without your bossy know-it-all attitude in their faces all the time. And I'm sorry I don't want to talk about the war that my brother was killed in," he finished sarcastically also jumping off the bed.

"My parents are better off without me," Hermione whispered. Ron's face dropped as he realizes his mistake too late. He opened his mouth to say something but Hermione cut him off. "I can't believe you think that. If that's true then you are probably better off without me and I know now I'm better off without you. You never want to talk about the war fine, but you never asked me if I wanted to be your girlfriend you just assumed. Just like I assumed you would understand my need to go find my parents. You still have yours! You don't know what it feels like. I'm done Ron. We are done. Thanks for your support."

With that Hermione turned and ran out of the room with tears in her eyes. She didn't stop until she was outside, running past Ms. Weasley and George who were looking at her with such pity. She ran outside past the apparition point and was just about to leave when she heard Harry calling out to her.

"Hermione, where are you going?"

"I am going to go stay in my parents' house till I need to leave tomorrow. I can't be here right now, not around him." Hermione stated with tears in her eyes to Harry and Ginny.

"Mi, you don't have to leave," Ginny tried. "We heard your fight through the open window and my brother was just being a prat. You know how he gets."

"I know. And I know you and your family would let me stay but I just need to spend some time alone right now."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Harry asked.

Shaking her head no Hermione squeezed Harry in a tight hug before letting go and doing the same to Ginny. "I love you both" she whispered before spinning and disapparating to her parents house.

 **Yay second chapter down! Hermione broke up with Ron, will they get back together or did she leave herself open for another in her future? Keep reading to find out. As always please review if you're liking the story so far or if you have any type of comments.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **June 4** **th** **1998**

Tilting the long handle of his broom down Draco descended from the sky towards the field to the right of the garden. Landing softly on two feet he spelled his broom to fly back to the shed with the rest of his quidditch equipment. The fall of Voldemort had been good to Draco. Without the snake like man living in his house, the constant fear Draco had felt since fourth year had finally gone away. He found that though those times in his childhood still affected him greatly he was finally healing. Gaining back some of the weight he had lost during those rough years filled out Draco in a good way and quidditch had truly helped him become more defined. Not to mention, that as he aged his features had softened. He still carried himself like an aristocrat from years of practice but he no longer looked so hard and angled and he no longer sneered down at people believing he was better than them. Sweeping his blond hair back, that he no longer kept gelled but instead let fall to just above his eyes, he made his way over to the bench he knew his mother loved to sit at during lunch time.

Just as Draco had suspected his mother was sitting on the bench looking out over the small pond surrounding by beautiful vibrant red rose bushes. Her long hair flowed down her back looking slightly more white than Malfoy blond these days. Looking at his mother it was not hard to notice that she had also taken the fall of Voldemort well considering the outcome of the war. Surprising both Malfoy's remaining at Malfoy Manor their trial had gone better than expected. They had both expected to have joined Lucius in Azkaban for their crimes during Voldemort's time but mercy was given for them during their trial. Potter, of all people, had played a vital role of their staying out of prison.

On the day of the trials Lucius Malfoy was judged first. He was found guilty of willingly taking the dark mark, performing numerous unforgivable curses, rape, and murder. It was a surprise to no one, including his family when the verdict of guilty was stated so clearly at the trial. What people don't know is that Draco felt a sense of relief wash through him hearing that his father was sentenced to Azkaban for life. When Narcissa was judged next the court was surprised to find her lawyer had found a character witness on her side. When the lawyer asked for the wizarding hero, the chosen one, to take the stand Draco thought his childhood nemesis was playing a cruel trick on his family. It was then that Potter explained how without his mother lying to Voldemort about Potter's death the light side never would have won the war. When Draco noticed the crowd changing their stares at his mother from glaring to sympathy he realized that he had never been as grateful to see Potter's untidy black hair and scar. When Narcissa's sentence of one year's house arrest was called out it was clear to anyone in the room that Draco almost wept with relief.

Lastly, on the day of the trials Draco took the stand as it was his turn to hear his ruling. He believed that he was going to go to Azkaban like his father; he had just prayed it wouldn't be for the rest of his life. He wasn't shocked when his mother took the stand saying he was forced to take the mark. It was true, Voldemort had threatened his parents and it was punishment for his father's failures. He could, however, remember Potter taking the stand as if it happened yesterday and not a month ago.

 _Malfoy's lawyer, a tall thin man wearing a baggy suit, had just asked for the second witness to step forward. The crowd was even more shocked to see Potter take the stand for Draco than they had when he took the stand for his mother. It wasn't uncommon knowledge that the two boys had grown up in a feud. Malfoy wondered why his lawyer had gone through all this trouble to win his case. No one had wanted to help the Malfoy's in the aftermath of the war, even with the money they had offered, so this lawyer had been assigned to all three of his families cases._

 _"Please state your name for the court," the lawyer said._

 _"My name is Harry James Potter."_

 _"And you are here because you believe you have relevant details for this case. Details that you believe will help my client Draco Malfoy."_

 _"I do."_

 _Draco had been sitting on the edge of his seat during the brief interaction. What on Earth could Potter say that would make Draco seem like less of a bully to him. The prosecutor, a short pudgy man wearing a crisp black suit with a food stain on his tie, seemed to be thinking the same thing for he had a smug smile on his face._

 _"Please share the first relevant event for the court." His lawyer asked his childhood classmate._

 _"The first time I knew that Malfoy was acting under the threat of his parent's lives was the night our old Headmaster Albus Dumbledore died." Draco cringed as he heard Potter state he was going to talk about this night. Now he knew Potter was just playing a joke on him because Potter hadn't been in the astronomy tower the night in question. Once again the prosecutor seemed to be thinking the same thing as Draco as he shook his head smiling._

 _"I object," he shouted, "The Malfoy boy has already testified about the night in question and he never mentioned the presence of Mr. Potter."_

 _"If you would please let Mr. Potter finish his encounter of the events you will find you understand why my client was unaware of his presence," Malfoy's lawyer stated clearly. "Continue please Mr. Potter."_

 _"Ah.. okay.. yea. So as I was saying I saw Malfoy on the night of Dumbledore's death. Dumbledore and I had just flown onto the astronomy tower from gathering a Horocrux. We heard bangs and shouts and we both seemed to realize death eaters were in the castle at the same time when we heard a pair of footsteps coming up to the tower. Dumbledore petrified me and placed my father's old invisibility cloak over me so that I could not move or make a sound. I could still hear and see what was taking place on the tower. That was when Malfoy came through the door and disarmed Dumbledore. He looked so scared, Malfoy not Dumbledore. Dumbledore tried to tell Malfoy that he didn't have to go through with this but Malfoy said that Voldemort would kill his parents. Even then he had already lowered his wand when Bellatrix and others came through the door. Even when being yelled at he did not raise his wand. He could have killed Dumbledore but he didn't and I believe the only reason he let death eaters into the castle in the first place was because his parents were threatened."_

 _The crowd was quietly taking in everything that Potter had just said about Draco and Draco could see that once again the chosen boy was swaying some people._

 _"Do you have another event that you would like to discuss Mr. Potter," Draco's lawyer questioned. This time Draco truly could not think of anything else that Potter could say to help his side, not that he wasn't already grateful for everything he had done. So he was even more surprised when Potter interrupted his thoughts once again._

 _"Yes, I have one more key event that allows me to believe Malfoy was just as much of a victim in this war as the rest of us, if not more." A quiet murmuring sounded throughout crowd at that statement. Many of the people in the room had been subjected to war crimes or had lost loved ones. Therefore, hearing the chosen one state Draco may have been more of a victim was a shock to most. "Ron, Hermione, and I were in hiding looking for Voldemort's Horocurxs when I was angry and said his name, even with the taboo."_

 _"Yes, and you were brought to Malfoy's residence. Where you not?" questioned Malfoy's lawyer._

 _"Yes, that is correct," Potter continued, "We were brought to Malfoy Manner by a few snatchers. When we arrived at the manor Malfoy's father was unsure of our true identities due to Hermione sending a stinging hex at my face. Malfoy Senior didn't want to call Voldemort for fear that they were wrong and they didn't have me in their possession so they called Draco down to identify us. I saw it in his eyes that Malfoy knew it was me but he didn't give my identity away. He saved my life. If Voldemort had been called before the Horocruxs were destroyed I don't know if we would have won the war."_

 _"But Malfoy's aunt tortured your friend and he didn't do anything to help her. Is that not true?" asked the prosecutor. Malfoy felt a cold sheen sweat settle over his skin thinking about that day. He knew he was done with that question for he had let Granger be tortured in his own home._

 _"What was he supposed to do?" Potter responded, once again stumping the room. "If he had tried to stop Bellatrix from torturing my friend Hermione would have been tortured worse than she was, if not killed. If Bellatrix believed her pureblood nephew cared about Hermione she would have been killed. Anyway, Hermione told me she saw Malfoy's face during her torture and he looked terrified. I don't believe he took pleasure out of watching my friend be tortured."_

After that very few more questions were asked of Potter. Draco knows he owes Potter his life, something he is not happy about for he doesn't like owing anyone anything. Potter was the reason he was allowed to approach his mother in the garden. After Potter's testimony he was sentenced to only one month house arrest, and a fine that did not even put a true dent in the Malfoy vaults, though it was probably a large number for most other wizards.

Finally standing next to his mother, Draco greeted her with a smile.

"Hello mother," he said. The smile was new for him and his mother both as they were trying to learn what it meant to be a family that was allowed to freely show their emotions.

"Hello Draco dear," his mother replied taking his hand and sitting him down next to her on the bench. "How was your ride, you have certainly been improving your quidditch skills lately."

"It was wonderful. I love the feeling of being free."

Narcissa smiled at him before looking out towards the pond again. She started to scratch one of the nails on her thumb, one of the only giveaways that she was nervous about something.

"What is it mother," Draco asked causing his mother to turn around and look at him once again.

"Well, this is something that has always been a possibility but it was improbable that it would occur. However, given the signs that I have been noticing this week I think there may be a chance you will be one of the few Malfoy men that come into their inheritance on their eighteenth birthday." Ms. Malfoy explained calmly.

Draco just continued to look at his mother confused. "Mother, all Malfoy men come into their inheritance when their father passes on the lord title or becomes unfit for themselves to hold it. I've had my inheritance since father was sent to Azkaban."

Shaking her head softly Narcissa let out a sigh. "No, I'm not talking about the money or the title. I understand that you are now entitled to the estate. Oh, I'm sorry your father and I have never talked to you about this we just thought the possibility of this occurring was so unlikely. But dear it is not something that you should fear. The fact that you are coming into your inheritance means that you are stronger than many of your ancestors." Narcissa finished her mini rant before looking once again at Draco. Noticing that he still looked confused she continued.

"Draco, the Malfoy family has veela blood in its history. Veela are very uncommon in males and due to the fact that Malfoy's tend to only have male children it has not been a serious problem in a long time. It is very rare that the gene is not dormant in a male for the male has to be exceptionally strong to handle the change that occurs on the males eighteenth birthday. However, due to the face that I also had dormant veela in my blood your father and I knew it was a possibility the gene would not be dormant for you. Even knowing this we did not believe it would effect you, it hasn't effected a Malfoy in three hundred years. I'm afraid however, that I have already seen the beginning. Your eyes turn black when you are feeling extremely emotional and you have become more agile in the past few days. It may mean nothing if your birthday comes and goes but I fear you may become a full or partial veela when the clock strikes midnight tonight."

Silence was endless after Draco's mother finished her explanation of what she was worried about. Draco did not know how to respond to the news he had just received. How is it possible for a Malfoy to be part veela if they were pureblood? Was it something that was swept under the rug so long ago or did it use to be something that was cherished? What would happen if he did become a full fledged veela?

"Mother," he started calmly. Draco had always been good at hiding his emotions behind a blank slate, something he learned form an early age to keep his father happy. "What does it mean if I become a veela?"

"Well, the side effects are that you will become stronger and faster, your senses will heighten, and you will become more in tune with your magic. There will be two sides of you, you as you are now, and you as a veela. The stronger a veela you are the longer the turn will be on your birthday and the more painful the process will be. According to veela records the longest turn of a veela was 13 hours. And there is one more major thing," at this Narcissa hesitated. She did not know how to tell her son that he would lose some of the freedom he now desperately craved and loved. Draco gave her a nod of encouragement to finish her thought.

"When a male becomes a veela he will be extremely tired due to the long painful change. The first thing the veela will do is sleep and during your first sleep as a veela you will dream of a girl. This girl will be your mate, you one true soul mate, and the one girl on the planet that was made for you in character, knowledge, and magical ability. You will feel drawn to her and you will mark her as your mate when you find her. After marking the girl you will have one year for her to accept the mark."

Draco thought about this. He did not want his choice to be taken away but he saw the benefits of having a partner who could match him in everyway. He was upset that he finally gained the right to marry whom he wanted, now that he was in charge of the estate and no longer had to convince his father he believed in blood purity. Thinking back to what his mother had said he realized something was not explained to him.

"Wait, what happens if my mate does not accept the mark within the year?"

"You will die of heartbreak," Narcissa said sadly, "But you mustn't worry about that now. Even after the war Malfoy's have a lot of money and you are extremely handsome my boy. You should not worry about the girl not accepting you for I cannot think of a girl you can't win over. Sure she may not like you at first but that is because she does not know you."

"Mother I must go think about what you have told me," Draco responded and then swiftly stood up from the bench and made his way back into the manor towards his rooms. He needed a shower after playing quidditch and he needed to clear his mind to think. Even with his mother's words of encouragement Draco was anxious about having to woo a girl in a year. Sure he had never had trouble with women before but he had been on the wrong side of the war, no matter the reasons. That was not something easy to look over.

Reaching his destination Draco stripped of his clothes and turned on the tap to the shower. He brushed his teeth while he waited for the steam to fog up the mirror, letting him know that the temperature of the shower was to his liking. Stepping in Draco let the water fall against him as he stood there thinking of what he would do and hoping that his mother had been wrong and that tonight when the clock strikes midnight and it officially becomes his birthday nothing happens.

 **Okay okay okay! Sorry for all the backstory for the fic I promise the next chapter will finally start having some Hermione/Draco interactions (which I'm super excited to write)! Shout out to my reviewer Adela-Elli for always leaving a review. I love hearing from the readers letting me know what they think so everyone read and review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **Authors Note:** Sorry this chapter is a little on the shorter side than my past two have been. I thought about making it longer but it felt like a good place to start and I'm super excited to write what happens next! Thank you for everyone who has reviewed, favorite, or followed this story! It means the world to me! Have a great day and as always please review if you have any questions or comments or just liked what you read.

 **June 4** **th** **1998**

The heavy door swung open, twenty minutes before midnight, as Draco entered his rooms located on the second floor of the manor in the east wing. Kicking off his expensive, black, Italian shoes Draco started walking towards his closet while unbuttoning his white collared shirt and dropping it into the hamper for dirty clothes. His room was very large but not overly extravagant in decoration. He had a light blue and silver color scheme, picked out by his mother some years ago. On the center far wall sat his king sized bed with two nightstands on either side. He had two doorways leading to a master bathroom and a walk in closet. On the wall across from the bathroom he had a fireplace with comfortable chairs and a couch surrounding it and the coffee table in the middle was filled with the books he had been reading this summer.

Stripping out of his clothes he donned his usual night attire, sweatpants that hung dangerously low on his hips and a white tank top. If anyone else had been in the room they would be able to describe how easy it was to see that Draco was tense. Draco himself was cursing under his breath for he had spent the rest of the day and most of the night in the Malfoy library. He had spent hours looking for books regarding to veela. He started with his old defense against the dark arts textbooks and then found some books regarding veela. One thing was for certain, male veela were extremely rare. Draco found himself frustrated when a lot of the information he found pertained to the female veela. A few passages stuck out in his mind and they made him feel very unsure of himself.

 _Veela are an incredibly strong species that are fiercely loyal to those they love. It is very uncommon to find a veela that is 100% veela with no human blood. It is so rare for this to occur, that wizard experts in the field do not believe such a creature has existed in thousands of years. The majority of veela that are in existence today are female veela. Male veela are extremely rare due to the fact that the veela blood can, and often does, lay dormant in males. This is because the change to a male veela is extremely taxing on the body whereas the change for females is more gradual and natural._

 _Females with veela in their blood are certain to go through the change to become veela because the change is not based on the female's magic. A female veela can also go through the change to become veela at any point in their life and in most instances find it occurs between the ages of 13 and 22. Female veela are beautiful creatures that often leave wizards pining for them. Once the change occurs they are able to produce pheromones to attract that of the other species. They typically have very light blond to white hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. Of course, this isn't a given description because females with very little veela blood can have other characteristics and become very weak or tame veela. Female veela are able to grow claws when they feel threatened and are usually more in tune with their magic once the change has occurred._

 _Male with veela blood in their system do not always undergo the change to become veela. As stated above, this is because the change for a male is very dependent on the magical ability of the wizard with the blood. Males undergo the change to become veela on their eighteenth birthday because this the time allotted for the blood to determine if the wizard is strong enough to handle to long painful change. The change for a male veela is said to be excruciated and that the stronger the veela the longer the change. Characteristics of male veela are very similar to that of their female counterparts. Males that undergo the change always show very fair characteristics including hair color, skin color, and the color of their eyes. The male veela are considered to be very attractive to that of the opposite gender and can also give off pheromones. If threatened a male veela can have the following veela traits, fangs, claws, black eyes, and for the strongest of the veela black wings._

 _The main difference found between a male and female veela is their mating habits. Veela are very loving and loyal creatures and their happiness often relies on that of their loved one. Both genders will have a mate but it is less likely for the female to find theirs or be affected by it. A female will only know the identity of their mate once smelled. When this occurs the female will know the human considered their mate and can go about wooing them. Females are not dependent on their mate to live, unlike the male veela. The female veela will do everything in their power to attract that of their mate but if the mate does not accept them the female can move on. If the female is forced to move on they can find happiness in another but never true love, like that that they feel for their mate. Additionally, a female veela can go her whole life without ever running into her mate, therefore not smelling her mate. If this occurs the female is able to fall in love with another and learn true happiness._

 _Male veela and their mates are a very different story from that of the female veela. Once the change occurs for a male veela the veela will be in control of the male for a full twenty four hours after the change is completed. The first thing the veela will do is sleep due to the rest it needs after the painful process of the change. In the first sleep the male veela will dream of their mate and in the cases of the strongest veela the veela will bond the dream to that of the mates dream; therefore, causing the mate and the veela to share the same dream. After waking the veela will be able to unconsciously find their mate, as if an invisible rope is attached to their mate. The male veela will feel the need to make sure their mate is protected and mark them as their own. This is usually done by biting the neck or thigh of the mate._

 _Once a mate has been marked by a male veela they are not instantly bonded to the veela. The veela has one year to have their mate accept their bond. Once accepting the of bond that mates can complete the bond by having the mate bite the male veela in the neck, similar to the original bite the mate received, during intercourse. Once bonded the mates are in a bond stronger than any marriage bond created. The veela will do everything in his power to love and cherish his mate and can physically not do anything to cause harm to his mate physically. In some rare instances the veela fights with his own human side over the attraction of the mate. For example, the veela will know and willingly accept the mate when the human is still fighting the bond. In these cases the human side of the veela can still emotionally hurt the mate but it will cause himself pain to do so and usually it does not take long for the human to realize his love for his mate._

 _However, if the mate does not accept the bond during the allotted year, after the veela's initial change, the veela will start to fall ill. The veela will start to experience the signs of heartbreak and loss. This can and will kill a male veela, in most cases heartbreak can take up to six months to kill a veela. According to wizarding experts the stronger the veela the shorter time heartbreak has to kill them._

Draco shook himself from his thoughts once again and looked at the time, wincing when he noticed that he only had five minutes till his birthday. After everything he had read in the past few hours he was still desperately hoping that nothing extraordinary occurred on his birthday. He would love to wake up peacefully human tomorrow and tell his mother not to make him worry like that again. Fully ready for bed Draco jumped onto his lovely down comforter and crawled his way up to lay his head on his many huge pillows.

'Oh, merlin,' Draco thought to himself, 'Please don't be a veela. Please don't change.' Three minutes to go.

'I don't need any more craziness in my life.' Two minutes to go. He knew the silent commands he was given to his body would not made a true difference but it did not matter to him. With one minute to go before his official birthday Draco could feel that he was going to go through the change. He had been trying to deny it all day but there was no denying that he felt like his body was preparing for something. Something big.

That's when it hit him. Pain like he had never felt before. A horrible, gut wrenching scream tour though his lips, a scream that could be heard through the whole house. Draco's body shook with pain that he knew was worse than any pain he had felt before, worse than the few times he had been forced under the cruciatus curse. Draco didn't even register the door to his room opening or his mother running to his bedside, followed by two house elves. He didn't notice her putting damp clothes on his forehead. There was nothing but he never ending stream of pain as his genetics changed in each one of his cells.

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Narcissa was still worrying ordering the house elves to fetch clean buckets of cold water every hour. To get her fresh clothes and to rub her son's spasming muscles. Though Draco would occasionally pass out from the pain he would often wake screaming as a fresh set of pain hit him. Narcissa had been keeping very close track of the amount of time the change had taken for she knew the most powerful veela known to wizards had taken thirteen hours to change. When Draco his hour ten she started to worry he would go insane from the amount of time under pain.

Finally after eleven and a half hours of watching her son in excruciating pain Draco's screams subsided and his spasms stopped. Draco opened his eyes and looked directly at his mother. Narcissa gasped when she saw the color of his eyes for they were entirely black.

"Mother," Draco coughed out, rasping through the pain still lingering in his throat, due to all his screaming. Before Narcissa could even reply Draco's black eyes closed and he entered into a fitful sleep, unaware he had caused his mate to enter the same dream he had just entered.

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Draco was walking the halls of Hogwarts feeling so very peaceful. He was walking through the halls with a purpose he knew not. Lifting his nose into the air he smelt that he was still traveling in the right direction. He had woke up this morning and everything had seemed perfectly normal. He woke up, took his morning shower, changed into his impeccable black wizarding robes made from the finest silk and waiting in the common room for his two best friends, Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott. When they final joined him in the common room they had all made the way to the slytherin table, which like the rest of the great hall was mostly empty as they were the one of the first students to enter.

Breakfast was a normal affair. Theo and Draco had been teasing Blaise about his latest conquest in the broom closet the night before. As it was a weekend no one in the friend group was in a particular rush. They all discussed what they were going to do for the rest of the day and it wasn't a surprise when Draco said he was going to go fly on the quidditch pitch. Realizing the three had spent quit a long time in the great hall they all got up and were leaving. It was at the doors that Draco smelt the smell.

Once his nose picked up on the faint but there smell his whole body froze. He knew it was her; it was the girl he had been searching for. He remembered saying a quick sudden goodbye to his friends before following the scent. Draco turned another corner heading up a flight of stairs when he thought about the scent and the morning events some more. He knew that his mate must have entered the great hall after him and left the great hall before him for he didn't smell her coming into the hall. He just wished he knew who he was so he could go and claim her for himself.

Stopping at a door he entered the room he though his mate may be in. He was surprised to see he was standing in the library. The room was beautiful with all the books lined up on rows and rows of bookshelves. Not having time to look through the books like he usually did he searched the library for the smell and realize though his mate had been in here she was no longer. Frustrated he left the room and started searching for the sent again. He took his time and really enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. Finally, the sent took him to the massive doors that led out to the gardens.

The scent was stronger here and Draco could feel the excitement coursing through his bones as he knew he was getting closer to his mate. He walked passed the quidditch pitch and walked in the direction of the black lake where the giant squid lived. Getting close to the lake Draco could feel himself reaching his end when he didn't see his mate but could smell that she was nearby. He quickly walked around a boulder and saw the back of a female sitting on a blanket reading a book.

His heart stopped when he realized who he is was looking at. This must be his mate. She had gorgeous brown curls that wildly fell down her back. In the sunlight he could see all the different colors ranging from auburn, to dark and light brown. He slowly lowered himself to his knees behind her and placed his arms around his mate's small figure. He nudged her wild hair gently out of the way and rubbed his nose against the length of her slender neck. Inhaling he was overcome with arousal at just the smell of his wonderful mate. Lavender, mint, and a touch of ink and parchment filled his nose as he continued breathing her in. He placed an open mouth kiss on her neck and he became incredibly hard as he heard her moan.

And then she was gone. Draco shot out of bed, his eyes the color of the darkest night. The veela in him was overjoyed with finally knowing who his mate was. He jumped out of bed with and landed lightly on his feet with the agility of a cat and ran passed his mother who had fallen asleep on the chair by his bed. He sprinted to the doors leading out to his balcony and pushed them open so hard they flew open smacking against the sides loudly.

"Draco!" he heard his mother yelling at him from the other room. "Get inside, where are you going." Draco growled at her, mad that anyone would stop his quest to find his mate. He gave her one last look before stepping onto the balcony ledge and jumping down to the soft dew covered grass below.

Draco felt a pull and with the speed of a wolf took off running in the direction he knew his mate was. He ran and ran and he knew exactly where he was going due to the pull to find her. Find his mate. And even though he didn't see her face in his dream Draco would know that crazy wild hair anywhere. It was the same hair he had made fun of for years as a child. That hair belonged to the one and only brightest witch of her age. That hair belonged to the witch he was going to find now, find and mark, and that witches name was Hermione Granger.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **June 5** **th** **1998**

Hermione woke with a start from a rather unusual dream. She gasped and shot into a sitting position sending your wild chocolate curls in every direction. Breathing a little heavy Hermione pressed her hand to her chest to settle her racing heart. 'What the hell,' Hermione thought, 'it felt so real.' Hermione felt herself start to blush as memories of the dream came back to her. It wasn't every day that Hermione dreamt of something other than her dreams and goals. Hermione especially didn't dream of mystery men that sent her heart beating a million miles a minute just from a hug and a kiss.

 _Hermione woke up early that Saturday morning and went about her usual Hogwarts ritual. She got out of bed slipping into her fuzzy red slippers that she left by her bed, grabbed the clothes she had left out for the day, and headed towards the shower. Hermione slipped out of the girl's dormitory quietly as not to wake her sleeping roommates._

 _Showered and dressed Hermione grabbed her bag for the day and started down the stairs to the common room. Getting to the common room she noticed that Harry and Ron were not ready for breakfast yet. Slightly irritated that they were late she sat on the comfy Gryffindor couch and pulled out a book for some light reading. Looking up five minutes later Hermione huffed at her friend's inability to wake up. She had to do more than them in the morning, taming her hair was not an easy feet after it got wet in the shower, and she still beat them down. Finally, her friends arrived to go down to breakfast._

 _"Guys, breakfast is half over," Ron whined, "What if they ran out of bacon?"_

 _"You really should have thought about that before you guys took so long getting ready," Hermione said with a slight laugh, in a better mood now that she was surrounded by her best friends. Breakfast was a quiet affair with Ron shoving his face with food and Harry quietly thinking of strategies for the next quidditch match against Ravenclaw. Finishing her small breakfast of toast and her chamomile tea Hermione stood up and announced she was going to the library to check out a book she had been meaning to read._

 _Entering the library, Hermione bee lined for the back section with transfiguration books. Finding the correct book called 'Animigous; How to Find Your Inner Animal' Hermione made her way up to Madame Pince's desk. Checking out the book Hermione thanked Madame Pince and moved away from her desk after receiving a slight smile from the librarian. Hermione was most definitely her favorite student as Hermione was the one of the only students that cherished books as much as she did._

 _Hermione looked around the library and was just about to head to the back of the library to look for her favorite table when she noticed how beautiful the weather was turning out to be today. Deciding that she would rather go outside Hermione took off down the hallway tucking her new book into her bag. Approaching the giant doors that led to the grounds Hermione smiled to herself while they magically opened._

 _With a skip in her step, excited to start studying the process to become an anamigous Hermione bounded down to her favorite place to read. Getting closer to the Black lake Hermione felt her body relax already anticipated a relaxing day in her favorite spot without any interruptions. Thankful that she had finished all of next week's homework Hermione walk around a big bolder and sat down with her back leaning against the cold rock. Watching the giant squid swim just below the surface of the water Hermione pulled her knees up, reached into her one shoulder bag and grabbed her new book._

 _After a period of time Hermione realized that she was slightly cold and decided to go sit a few meters in front of the bolder in the sun. Readjusting her position Hermione once again got lost in the knowledge of her book. Hermione was so engrossed in her book she didn't hear or feel him until suddenly she had a pair of arms wrapping around her middle from behind her. Unlike a normal reaction Hermione lent back and melting into the strangers hug. She should have screamed or jumped out of his arms but she couldn't explain the feeling of safeness that radiated off the unknown man. When he moved her hair from her shoulder and smelled her neck she felt she should have felt disgusted. She felt happy content and the second he pressed an open mouth kiss to the side of her neck where her neck met her shoulder she swiftly felt arousal take control of her body. Not able to stop the soft moan that escaped her lips at the feeling._

And then the mystery boy was gone and Hermione was sitting up in bed breathing hard. Hermione notice the time on the clock and groaned when she noticed it was around noon. It was very unlike her to fall asleep and nap during the day, especially when reading an extremely interesting book about magical creatures. Hermione recalled that she had just been reading a very exciting chapter about werewolves when she must have fallen asleep. She had already read the sections on mermaids, vampires, veela's, giants, and now half of the werewolf section.

Sighing, Hermione got out of bed, picked up her book from the floor, and placed her Gryffindor bookmark where she had left off reading. Placing the book on her desk she bounded over to her mirror and noticed that though she had slept on her hair it wasn't as crazy as it usually was, still holding the spell she had put on it earlier. Satisfied that she didn't look like a girl supporting a lion's man, but instead wavy locks, she made her way out the door to the bathroom.

On her way to the bathroom Hermione passed her parents room and her small sigh of sadness was the only indication that she was upset. Hermione had been staying in her parent's house since her trip to Australia and was both happy and upset about the progress she made while there. After portkeying to the Australian's Ministry Hermione had immediately gotten to work finding her parents. Thankful that she had kept up with muggle technology finding her parents work address was easy. The used the internet to type in the names she had given them and had found their practice easily enough. She waiting for them to get into their car on night and followed them home to their house.

When her parents had gotten out of their car and walked into their house Hermione had almost lost all of her nerve. She didn't think she would have found her parent's house on her second day in the foreign country. She thought she would have had more time to prepare for the confrontation that she would have to have with her parents. Taking a shuddering breath she approached the nicely sized split ranch house that was surprising the same beige color as her childhood house. Nervously, Hermione raised her hand to knock on the door. She remembers so clearly the look of confusion and how much it hurt to not have her father, the man that tucked her into bed every night as a child, remember who she was, his own daughter. She remember asking for entrance into her parent's new home and being the trustworthy people they were she was allowed entrance. She had them sit down on the couch before she undid the spell she had done on them so many months ago.

Her parents had been happy to see her at first until the confusion set in. They gained back all of their memories but they also kept the memories that had had while in Australia and demanded to know what was going on. She had tried her best to explain but the happiness they had originally felt when seeing her quickly turned to betrayal, anger, and hurt. Hermione spent the rest of the week she was allowed in Australia explaining everything to her parents, why she had used magic on them, why the war occurred, and everything her and her friends had been doing to fight the dark side since they were only eleven years old.

After hearing the story Hermione's parents understood why their daughter had done what she did but they still weren't happy about it. For the rest of her time in Australia Hermione tried to convince her parents to come back home but they declined saying they quite liked their lives in Australia. They then tried to convince Hermione to stay back in Australia, away from the war and the bad memories. Away from the magic that they felt had stolen their daughter from them. Realizing that no one was prepared to budge on the issue Hermione started repacking promising to visit as often as she could. Her parents gave her a tearful goodbye and apologized for not coming back with her. They also promised to fly back as often as they could and ensured her that they would not sell her childhood home so that she could continue living there if she liked.

As Hermione made her way back to the bathroom the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She couldn't identify what was making her heart pound but her instincts from the war were kicking in and she was cursing herself that she hadn't brought her wand with her to the bathroom. Sticking to the shadows and cast by the sunlight, let in by the big spacious windows her mother used to adore, she made her way back to her room. Hermione was breathing through her nose trying to steady her breathing, as to not give her position away. Silently she sent a quick thank you prayer for the slippers on her feet making her footsteps almost inaudible to any human.

Hermione finally made it to her open bedroom door and stood rod straight with her back against the wall next to her door. Turning her head slightly she looked into her bedroom and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Reaching her hand into the room she silently felt for the light switch until she was able to flick it, shedding the room in bright light. Pressing herself back against the wall Hermione took another small glance around her room. Again, when she didn't see any movement or giant revenge seeking death eaters Hermione decided to enter the room in order to make it to her wand. 'Come on,' Hermione thought, 'You can do this. Just run to your bed grab you wand and place yourself against the wall so you don't have to protect your back. You are a smart witch you can do this.'

After receiving her own pep talk Hermione dashed into her room and bee lined for her bed, messily covered in her periwinkle blue comforter. Her hand dived under her pillow and grabbed her wand and she was once again pressing her back against the wall, this time pointing her wand around the room and waiting. She waited for movement, or for an attack, for five minutes before lowering her wand. Walking over to her closet she raised her wand once more and threw open the door. Her heart pounding terribly till she could register that no one was hiding in her closet. Backing away from her closet and doing one more quick sweep of her room she felt fairly certain she was along. She went over to her bedroom door and locked it quickly after slamming it shut.

Feeling slightly less alerted Hermione made her way back to the center of the room enjoying the breeze coming from her window. She felt herself start to cool down and wiped the beads of sweat from her upper lip that arrived due to her nerves. After a moment of enjoying the cool hair she froze. Gasping loudly, she turned to her window so quickly she almost fell over. Her window was pushed open, the glass pane having been swung into the room. Her wand was at the ready instantly. Carefully she made her way over to her window, the window she knew had been shut for days for she had not felt safe leaving any door or window opened and unlocked since the war.

Holding her wand out of site from the window she leaned outside and looked down at the ground. The hairs on the back of her neck were once again standing on edge. Looking at the ground she couldn't see anyone or anything but that didn't make her feel any better. Hermione knew that her window had been closed and locked. Even if she had forgotten to lock it there wasn't enough wind today to have pushed it open naturally. Someone had gotten her window open without breaking it and in her gut she knew that meant magic.

Hermione stepped back from the window and pushed it close before locking it once again. Keeping her eyes on the window she continued to step back towards the center of the room. Without warning she hit a solid wall and knowing she wasn't close enough to hit furniture she jumped away from whoever she had just run into. Spinning to face the intruder in the room she raised her arm ready to fight for her life. The male across from her was no less than 6 foot 4 inches with the palest skin. His chest was bare showing the defined muscles he sported with a tantalizing v leading down to below his black sweatpants hanging low on his hips. His hands had claws where there should have been fingers and she could see fangs in between his slightly parted pink lips. His eyes were black and he was staring at her so intently she felt like he was looking through to her soul. Behind him he was holding magnificent black wings that looked stronger than metal and yet softer than velvet. And that's when Hermione looked at his pale blond hair, hair she would never forget.

"Malfoy?" she questioned not understanding what she was seeing. He took a step toward her and when she took a step back he growled making her pause mid-step. "Malfoy what are you doing in my house?"

He rushed toward her quickly and just at he was about a foot from her she collapse. Draco reached his arms out and caught her just before she hit the ground kneeling on the floor with her in his arms. Hermione could have sworn she heard him whisper something before everything went dark but she couldn't be sure.

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Draco stepped into the middle of the room and watched her had she shut and locked the window he had used to gain entry into her room. He gazed adoringly as he watched her lock it loving that she knew to keep herself safe from others. She didn't know that she would never have to worry again for she was his to have and protect. He was amused that she refused to take her eyes off the window when he was already behind her. She kept coming closer and closer and he lost himself in her beautiful scent. Quickly in reality, but slowly in his mind she finally took that final step back and made contact with him.

He would have groaned in pleasure at the contact she had given him if she had not so quickly jumped away from him. Jumped away before he could wrap his arms around her waste and give her the open neck kiss that had him so aroused after his dream. He watched as she raised her wand to him but she didn't fire off a curse. Instead he watched her study him. He loved the facial expression she made as her face went from guarded to confused. Her nose squished up as she bit her lower lip, almost sending him into a coma right then and there. Then he saw a flash of acknowledgement flash through her eyes as she got a good look at his hair.

He couldn't help himself any longer for he needed her in his arms, to feel her body held against his own. He took a slow step toward her and couldn't help the angered growl he let out when she took a step back away from him with fear in her eyes. She froze and he quickly made his way over to her. Before he could reach her he saw her beautiful chocolate brown eyes that always held so much emotion roll into her head and he lunged, catching her just before she hit the ground.

"My sweet, sweet mate," Draco whispered pulling his mate into his lap. He bent down and smelled her hair before standing and moving her into a more comfortable position, holding her as a groom holds his bride entering their home for the first time. He looked down at her sleeping form once more before unlocking the window with a quick wandless spell. Jumping out onto her room he made sure he hadn't jostled her too much in her sleep but when she didn't wake he quickly unfurled his wings and took off into the sky.

Draco had his mate and he wasn't going to let her go. The veela pumped his wings at swift volume thinking only of marking her as soon as he got her home. "Mate, my mate, my Hermione," he kept whispering the whole way home.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **June 5** **th** **1998**

Draco landed with a thud on the balcony outside his suits being careful not to jostle the sleeping witch in his arms. Folding his wings back into his body he opened the unlocked door to his room spotting his mother pacing besides his bed. Looking down at his mate and once more at his mother he growled not knowing if she would be a threat to the witch he was carrying knowing their past history.

"Draco," his mothered held up her hands in a peaceful gesture walking closer to her son. "Draco, is this the girl? You found her already?" Narcissa tried to take a step closer to Draco, straining her head to get a better look at the girl whose face was cradled into her son's chest.

"Yes, I found her. She is mine," Draco replied with a growl in his voice, still cautious of the women across from him. Turning away from her he walked over to the side of his giant bed. He gently laid his mate down on the bed, cradling her head as not to hurt her. He stood back and looked at his perfection lying peacefully on the bed, her head resting lightly on his grey-blue pillows, her hair surrounding her head as a halo. "I must mark her, she is mine." The veela spoke with desperation.

Narcissa realized what he needed to do and that he wouldn't commit such a personal vulnerable act with a threat still in the room. She slowly started to back away from her son, careful not to frighten him. She was thankful he had found his mate and had time to mark her before the human side of her son was able to fight against the veela side more strongly. From what she had heard about those cases if the human side took too long to come to terms with the marking process the veela had less time to live and was more likely to die of heartbreak.

Draco watched as his mother left his room. His black eyes never leaving her frightened face, not feeling a shed of remorse for scaring her. As soon as the door shut behind her his magic locked the door through wandless magic. If he had been thinking more clearly Draco may have been surprised at how easy it was to perform such a spell without a wand and without uttering the incantation, something he had never been able to accomplish simultaneously. Once the door was locked Draco's eyes shifted back down to the beautiful girl sleeping in his arms. He shifted her from her sleeping position so he could lay down cradling her in his arms.

As one hand slowly moved to touch her face he marveled in the sensation of touching his mate in a loving manner. He slowly tucked a strand of her surprisingly soft curly hair behind her ear and lent down to press a kiss to her jaw before moving along her neck. Hermione shifted in her sleep unknowingly elongating her neck to give her mate more access to her soft skin. Hermione moaned as she started to wake up from the amazing attention she was receiving and hearing the noise of pleasure from his mate Draco felt his erection straining against the sweatpants he had on. He felt his fangs start to reemerge and knew he had to mark the wonderful witch lying in his arms so the world would know she was taken and she was his.

"W-what? Where am I?" Hermione mumbled finally starting to more fully wake up. Her eye lids fluttered before she fully took in what little she could see of the room. Turning her head she looked into the dark eyes of the man who had been in her room earlier. "Malfoy what are you doing?"

Draco didn't even bother to respond before pressing a kiss to the top of her forehead and then returning once more to her neck. Draco moved his arms to hold his mate in place as she tried to move away from the attention he was supplying to the juncture between her neck and shoulders. Realizing she was becoming more agitated than comfortable Draco took a deep breath before biting down on the soft skin that was his mates. His sharp fangs pierced the skin and he knew his venom had entered her wound to begin that claiming process. His fangs disappeared as he leaned back to see his handy work. Enjoying seeing his mark on her he licked the droplets of blood seeping from the wound he had created. Instantly the venom from his tongue heeled the wound.

"Ouch! What did you do?" Hermione questioned finally removing herself from his hold enough to turn to face him on the big bed. Draco had just enough time to utter to words mine and mate before the venom truly entered Hermione's bloodstream and a blood curdling scream tore from her lips. Hermione's body instantly curled up, one arm going around her waist looking like she was trying to hold herself together while the other instantly went to her neck where the fire coursing through her body had originated.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Hermione screamed through the pain as her body feeling as if her own blood was trying to boil itself. She had already broken out into a clammy sweat and there felt like there was no end in sight. As the venom continued flowing to her heart in order to be pumped throughout the rest of her body Hermione gave another scream that seemed to be powerful enough to shake the entire estate.

Draco instantly shot out of his position lying next to her and kneeled over his mate's shaking body. His eye's shot up in both surprise and concern for he had not heard of the pain his venom would bring his mate. He tried to place a calming hand on her but it seemed as if she did not even feel him near her. His heart began to hurt when he heard to sounds of his mate simultaneously screaming and crying. He could hear her muttering 'What did you do' in between jolts of paint and it broke him to know it was he that was causing this pain.

Feeling the temperature in her body rising steadily Draco jumped to his feet and ran to the door leading to the bathroom from his room. He grabbed a clean fluffy white towel from the closet and ran to the shower. He turned the tap on and made sure the water was a cold as possible before drenching the towel in the water. Once the towel was soaked through and very cold Draco rang out some of the excess water before running back to his crying mate's side.

Hermione opened her eyes for a brief moment when she suddenly felt the cold compress covering her body. She looked up just enough to catch the concern set so deeply in Malfoy's eyes. She opened her mouth to try to speak but was once again overcome by pain. Finally, after what seemed like days to the two mates but what must have been at most thirty minutes Hermione screams died down. The shaking stopped and the scar on her neck faded from a deep red to a still noticeable white. Too tired and overwhelmed to do anything more Hermione once more fell asleep in the arms of her mate still unaware of everything that had transpired in the past few hours.

Draco's eye's started to turn back to his normal grey-blue as his veela had accomplished everything he had needed to in the allotted time since his own painful change. He looked down at the women in his arms and felt a hurricane of feelings he didn't know how to separate. He felt scared, love, hope, despair, longing, fear, and so much more knowing he had a long journey ahead of him now knowing who his mate was.

Draco looked down at his sleeping mate once again and couldn't believe the sick joke the gods were playing on him. Hermione Granger… his mate. The girl he had mercilessly teased and put down, the girl who took down the Dark Lord and freed him and his mother, the girl who hated him. This was the girl he had to make fall in love with him. Draco could have laughed at the impossible mission set out for him knowing that there was now an even more likely chance of his death in the upcoming year. Sure he had stopped caring about blood long ago, even before he took the dark mark, but he hadn't let her know that. He hadn't led on that he had been fascinated with her since that time in third grade when she decked him so well in the face. Thinking about it he wasn't surprised the gods had given him the girl he had admired from afar, the same girl he knew he didn't deserve.

Draco suddenly was on high alert and jumped out of the bed and stood in between the door and his mate as the knob began to turn. Draco relaxed when he saw his beloved mother step into the room followed by Tiffy his house elf. Tiffy carried a tray with a steaming pot of tea and small sandwiches.

"Oh, is your mate asleep?" Narcissa asked her son hearing the steady breathing coming from the bed behind her son. She had so hoped to be able to meet the girl that had just become the most important thing in her son's life.

"Yes, mother, she is asleep," Draco replied. "Mother," he said his voice breaking. "Mother, I don't deserve her. She will never accept me as her mate," Draco muttered looking absolutely broken hearted.

"That's not true, darling," she tried to reassure him. "You deserve the world and I'm sure you can make her just as happy as she can make you. It's why the gods have given you to her and her to you. Do not question that."

"You don't understand mother," he continued, "she is pure. She is good and everything I am not. I do not deserve even a little of her affections after all this family has done to her and her kind."

Her kind, Narcissa though. She must not be of pure blood she thought. Though slightly disappointed at this news it wasn't a make or break issue for Narcissa as it would have been for her husband. Lucius would rather have had Draco die of heartbreak than taint the line. She hadn't truly believed in being better than those of inferior blood since the war but the thought of losing the Malfoy sacred 28 position was something she was going to have to come to terms with.

"Who is your mate, Draco?" She finally asked outright.

"Granger. My mate is Hermione Bloody Granger."

 **Hi Lovelies I'm sorry it has taken me so long to upload this chapter. I got surprisingly busy with the Fourth of July and then my company decided to send its interns on a business trip, which was both fun and tiring (especially given the cold I now have)! I have not given up on this story and I have a ton of ideas on where to take it so even I'm interested to see what happens. As always please review if you have any comments or questions because I love hearing from the readers! I'll try to update soon as long as life doesn't get in the way again!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors Note: Hey everyone! I hope everyone is having a great summer! I am counting down the days until I am done with my internship and can head back to school! I just wanted to give a shout out to all the new followers and favorites this story has gotten. It means a lot to me that people are actually reading this.**

 **Rupertdarling: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you like the story and I have a little bit of an idea on where I want the story to go but I'm also excited to see what I finally decide :)**

 **WinterWillows: Thanks I'm glad you like the story! I was really excited to add the kidnapping aspect to the story cause I think it can add some fun twist to the normal veela story (which are usually my go to when I want to read a dramione)**

 **Sarahmorhanka: I'm glad you love it and I'll try to keep updating as frequently as I can**

 **Snowflake Dazzle: I think at this point I'm trying to make the veela side of Draco instantly love his mate because I feel like there would be an instant connection. The human side of Draco is definitely going to like her more romantically than he did (because he is one with the veela) but I don't want this to be a story where instantly their entire past is forgotten so I hope you enjoy! And yes he may be working very hard in the future :)**

Chapter 7

 **June 6** **th** **1998**

Draco woke first to the sun just beginning to rise, letting in the smallest amount of light through the shades across the room. Turning his head slightly he caught a glimpse of the impressive thing that was Hermione's morning hair. Curls were sticking in every direction. Her eyes were closed and Draco took this moment to really think about everything that had happened in the past day.

His life was a hundred percent different than how it was before the start of yesterday morning. He was just trying to move on from the war like everyone else and now he was lying in bed with a girl who hated him and he wasn't sure how he felt about her. He was a Veela, something he had never even though possible, considering how much his no good father used to rant about them having the purest of blood. 'Pure blood my ass,' Draco thought angrily remembering the black wings that had erupted out of his back last night. Wings he had used to get into Granger's room, he recalled.

Glancing down again Draco couldn't help but notice how peaceful his new mate looked when she was sleeping in his arms. He couldn't see her eyes but he knew from past experience that they were a beautiful chocolate brown and when the sun hit them just right you could see speckles of gold in them. He used to anger her and watch the fire dance behind her eyes as she tried to defend either herself or her friends. Her nose was cute, elegant until the end when it was slightly upturned. He was amazed that this was something you couldn't notice until you were this close to her. Her lips were full and a charming shade of pink, held slightly opened as she deeply breathed through her sleep. He chuckled when he noticed every once and a while you could detect a faint snore coming from her mouth, almost inaudible unless paying attention.

Draco hadn't moved since waking up and was surprised to notice he hand was place around her back hugging her to his side. He felt warmth spread throughout him when he noticed that in her sleep she hadn't pulled away from him. In fact Hermione had done the opposite and had a hand placed on his chest and he wondered if his beating heart gave her comfort.

'Merlin, she is beautiful,' he thought. That realization shook him out of his deep thoughts. "Beautiful,' he though again baffled, 'she is nothing but an annoying swot that must always be right.' He started having troubles determining where the human part of Draco was and where the Veela part of Draco was. On one hand when he looked at her he felt everything he thought one Veela should feel for his mate. On the other, however, he couldn't shake the feeling of no satisfaction knowing he was looking down on his childhood enemy, the same girl that had given him such grief throughout school. The same girl he had viciously attacked throughout their school days.

"Damn," he muttered out loud causing the girl in his arms to give a slight moan of protest. 'How am I supposed to come to terms with out past, have her do the same, get to know her, and get her to look past all the bullshit I pulled in school and fall for me. I'm gonna die at the end of the year and I'm gonna go out knowing I deserve it.' Thinking back to all the blood purity nonsense he yelled at her in school made Draco very well aware of the work cut out for him. Merlin, to think he cared about blood purity just cause he father did and to top it all off it turns out that most of the purebloods were pure, if both his father and mother had the Veela blood that meant the Blacks and the Malfoys had it.

'I bet there are traces of muggle or creature in all of the purebloods and that they hid that fact from the history books,' Draco exclaimed. Not wanted to think about this issue further Draco went back to thinking about his mate and the hardships he would surely face in the near future.

Books… that's what he must get for her he suddenly realized. Of course the brainy witch still in his arms would be full of questions when she woke up. Draco was sure that she wouldn't accept any of the answers from him himself and would want to read them from books, books could be trusted he knew. 'At least we have that in common,' he thought to himself. Even though he was slightly annoyed since he did have all the answers she would want considering he would give her the same books he himself had read the other day.

Finally decided on a course of action Draco disentangled himself from his sleeping mate, being careful not to jostle her out of her sleep. He made his way over to his closet and grabbed a clean pair of his usual black trousers and decided on a gray button down shirt. After dressing he rolled the sleeves of his shirt up went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and then slipped out the door without waking the sleeping girl on his bed.

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Hermione's eyes fluttered open briefly before quickly snapping back shut. She groaned at the beam of sun shining on the bed through the shades across the room. Turning away from the light source Hermione lay on her side facing the other side of the room. Slowly, she started to open her eyes again and was glad for the time to adjust to the light.

Noticing the room was much too large and extreme to belong to her and her parents she gasped jumping into an upright position. Looking around at the extravagant room the events from the night before came rushing to the forefront of her mind. Gasping once again, quietly to herself, her hand came up to rest on the small raised skin on her neck. 'He bit me,' she thought in shock. 'What the hell is wrong with him? That was definitely Malfoy but it wasn't.'

Glancing around the room quickly Hermione realized she had to get out of here. Her childhood enemy had kidnapped her from her room yesterday and then flew her here. What happened to him, she wondered. A part of her brain started to tickle and she tried to push for a memory but couldn't completely grasp it. 'I must have read about whatever is happening to Malfoy. Why can't I remember?' Finally giving up on the memory Hermione pulled the heavy down blanket off of her and made to stand up.

Looking around the room Hermione noticed that the curtains seemed to be hiding either an extremely big window or a door leading to outside. Thinking that this was her best bet for getting out of the house she made her way to the other side of the room. Pulling open the light blue curtains Hermione came into contact with two beautiful glass doors leading outside. Opening the door she made her way out only to realize she was standing on a balcony. Looking over the side of the balcony railing she admitted it was much too high to jump and not having her wand made it impossible to climb down safely.

Turning back to the room Hermione was now more desperate than ever to get out of the prison that was her room. Running over to the door closest to her she grasped the door knob and flung it open. She was disappointed to note the door did not lead out of the room but instead lead to a huge walk in closet full of designer clothes in all shades of color. Frustrated she ran over to the other door only to find this one led to a giant bathroom with two sinks, a shower, and a tub.

With some luck Hermione finally made it out of the room by using the last door. She gave a sigh of relief when she had noticed that the door wasn't locked. 'So my prison was more like a holding cell,' she thought with dry humor. Looking left and right Hermione realized that she hadn't the faintest idea of how to find the exit to the house. Looking more closely she did notice that to the left a little down the hall there appeared to be stairs leading down while to the right there were stairs leading up. 'I need to go down, even if I can't find the front door I should be able to at least find a window I can escape from if I'm on the ground floor.'

With that final thought Hermione took off. She did not try and notice how beautiful the house was or how much light was let through by the beautiful windows. She did not take notice that none of the portraits were yelling derogatory remarks at her, which was common place in a pureblood home. The only thought she had was that she had to get out, get to Harry and Ron and explain what had happened and try to figure it out herself.

Hermione felt like she had made the right choice going down the stairs because her feet seemed to be leading her to the front door. She never stopped to think about why she had some general knowledge of the first floor of this house. That was until she did a double take into a giant room. A room that looked different but still sent her back to a place she tried not to visit almost every night. Her feet stopped on her own accord and she entered the room without really wanting to go in there.

Standing in the room Hermione looked around. She didn't see the changes that had been made she saw exactly what she saw the last time. She saw the stairs leading down to the dungeon that had housed her friends. She saw the spots that the different members of the Malfoy house had stood. But the thing she saw most clearly was the spot in which Bellatrix stood, standing over her taking so much joy in her pain. Yelling questions at her that Hermione had barely been able to understand through the pain induced fog.

Her feet moved and took her to the direct spot in which she had been when the first crucio was thrown her way. Without realizing what was happening Hermione started reliving the exact day which gave her so much grief in the past months. She let out a scream so filled with pain and terror it must have been heard throughout the entire manor.

"Please, I haven't been in your vault. It's a fake!" She kept streaming over and over hunched over on the floor in a ball. Her hand grabbed her forearm where the horrible scar resided and her body was shaking due to her feeling like there would never be an end to her nightmare.

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Draco was pleased with himself. He had managed to shrink all the books he had found on Veela into his pocket. 'These should at least answer most if not all of her questions,' Draco thought proudly to himself. He knew he had a long journey but if Hermione would at least read the books maybe she would give Draco a chance to know her and her a chance to know him.

Draco stopped short on his walk to his room when he heard a scream so loud it damn near shook the whole manor. A scream he had heard last night after biting Granger except this time it was filled with terror and not just pain. Without thinking Draco took off at a sprint following the direction of the sound and letting his feet and heart lead the way. Coming upon the drawing room Draco cursed himself for being so stupid. 'Of course she would find this room. She couldn't have found the library first. Courting her would be so easy after that she would have never wanted to leave.'

Running to her side he heard her mumbling to herself.

"Granger! Granger, you're okay," he exclaimed when he was standing a good foot away from her. When she didn't move or even acknowledge his existence he took another step closer to her. Draco noted that she didn't even realize he was in the room with her. 'It's like she is reliving the whole attack,' he thought sadly. Draco had also often though of this attack and was always disappointed that he could not do more to stop what had occurred. Now he felt downright shamed. His thoughts were cut off when she stopped mumbling and let out another agonizing scream.

Without thinking Draco launched himself to his knees right in front of her.

"Please, we didn't go into you vault. It is a fake. The sword is a fake." Draco could finally hear the mumbling and he was stricken with horror once again at the atrocities the girl had faced at the hands of his own flesh and blood. Gently, Draco reached out a hand and gripped her shoulder.

"Granger," he whispered again gaining hope when she seemed to quiet. "Granger, it's okay. She isn't here anymore. She is dead; she can't ever hurt you again. I won't let anyone ever hurt you again." Draco himself was surprised by how true his words were when he whispered them to her.

Draco was relieved when Hermione finally lifted her face towards him. That she was acknowledging that he was in fact there trying to rip her away from her own personal hell. Draco waited for a heartbeat before her troubled pained eyes bore into his.

"Please help me," she whispered to him before she started to shake once again and the mumbling resumed. Without thinking Draco took the girl into his arms and apparated to a place he had never brought anyone to before. A place that was sacred to him in his own way but also the only place secluded enough he knew no one would bother them.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 **Authors Note: Hi Everyone! Sorry it has taken me a little long to update with this chapter! It is a little (like very small amount) longer than my usual chapters so hopefully that makes up for it lmao! I just want to say thank you for everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed to this story! I can't believe it has almost 200 followers (I was unsure if anyone would read or like what I was writing)! I have been reading dramiones since high school and finally decided to write (I still read them all the time too) one of my own!**

 **WinterWillows: I'm sorry about the cliffhanger (I'll probably still end up doing more *insert evil laugh*)! I hope you like what they talk about and where he took her though!**

 **Snowflake Dazzle: Yes, Draco was definitely smart to think ahead, if only he had thought about that room! I'm glad you like the chapter and I hope you like this one as well!**

 **Rupertdarling: Thank you so much for your review! I'm always a little nervous about my writing style but I'm glad you like it! Yes I want my characters to be upfront with each other… even if that leads them to trouble sometimes! Also I hope you did well on your exams!**

 **Vane3131: Hi! Yes I thought it was cute that he put aside their past to make sure she was alright to! I Hope you like this chapter!**

 **June 6** **th** **1998**

Draco looked down with worry at the girl still shaking in his arms. It doesn't even seem that she realized they were no longer in the room filled with too many bad memories. She just kept on muttering to herself about not having the real sword.

"Granger, it's okay. She isn't here. Look around we aren't there anymore. You will never have to step into that room again." Draco whispered in her ear and noticed that the mumbling stopped but still she did not unfold from her crumbled position and she continued to cry and shake in fear. Horrified at what he was witnessing Draco was mad at himself for not thinking before bringing her to his childhood home. 'Stupid veela is supposed to want to protect his mate no matter what and he brought her here. This is his stupid fault he should be the one to deal with this.' Draco thought angrily wondering what he could do to calm the girl in his arms.

Even with Draco angry at the part of him that was veela he could feel the animal side of him under his skin. Draco had a theory that the only reason the veela didn't fully break out when he heard her screams was because it was physically to exhausted after the day it had had yesterday.

"Grang- Hermione," Draco tried her given name sounded both familiar and foreign to him. "Hermione, please, you are okay. I'm so sorry I should never have let you in that room. I should have made sure you knew not to leave my room. I am so sorry for everything. I'll protect you I promise. I know you're hurt and confused but please be okay."

Hermione who had started when she heard her given name uttered from his lips slowly started coming back to reality. She was able to tune into the end of Draco's heartfelt apology and was shocked he was blaming himself, recalling his once extremely arrogant personality from school. She was even more in shock that he, of all people, would be promising to protect her.

Slowly Hermione started to uncurl from her bent shape. Draco was relieved when he noticed her starting to sit up and look up to his face. He gently took his hands off her shoulders and sat back making sure to keep eye contact and not make sudden moves, unless he frighten her again.

Then they sat there, starring at each other. Minutes went by that felt like hours but neither was willing to break the calm silence first. Both participants were stuck in their own thoughts. Draco was just glad that Hermione no longer seemed like she was going to break down at any second. Hermione on the other hand had a million thoughts running through her head from what she had just relived, to where they were, to why he was being nice to her, and to the memories of everything that had happened yesterday.

"Where are we?" Hermione questioned after she finally decided to ask the easiest question she had. She looked past Draco, finally breaking eye contact, to see they were sitting on a flat rock overlooking a beautiful lake. There was a small stream of water flowing over rocks on the other side of where they sat, looking like the world's smallest water fountain, providing a calming flowing sound. There were wildflowers, of all different colors, surrounding the water's edge. A little ways back from the water's edge and the beautiful flowers there were a thick line of trees, surrounding the water on all sides. In the woods the quiet sounds of nature could be heard; the leaves rustling in the wind, the sounds of bird's chirping. It all together gave the area a very pleasing and calming feeling. As if the bad of the world couldn't touch the tiny little oasis.

"We are in the forests that surround my house. This particular pond is a little past the boundaries of our land. No one knows this place exist so no one can hurt you out here. You have nothing to fear," Draco responds watching for Hermione's reaction. Hermione nodded but didn't show that she didn't believe him.

'I didn't forget what happened last night Malfoy,' she thought to herself. 'Just because we are the other two that can get to this lake doesn't mean I am safe. You kidnapped me and caused me a great deal of pain just yesterday.' Though Hermione didn't trust Draco she also didn't say any of her feelings out loud. For one she didn't understand what happened yesterday and for two she didn't want to make him mad when he seemed so calm suddenly.

"It's lovely, but why are you being nice to me Malfoy? Why did you kidnap me from my home and what did you do to me last night it bloody well hurt?" Hermione questioned quietly. Though she asked the question calmly Draco could hear the quiet fury increasing with each word, especially when she remembered what had happened the day before.

"Well?" Hermione demanded after too much time had passed without an answer to any of her questions. Hermione was taken aback when Draco's calming demeanor evaporated and his stare quickly turned into a glare, all emotions hidden behind the wall he had spent so long building throughout his childhood. He once again looked guarded and annoyed with her questions and Hermione quickly realized that she wasn't going to get the answers she needed if he shut her out.

"I'm sorry," she relented to the surprise of Draco; he didn't think he had ever heard her apologize to him before. "I am just terribly confused, you must understand. I don't understand what is happening and I just want some answers." Hermione looked quickly into Draco's eyes, her eyes pleading him to understand what she needed. He was thankful to see his glare softening a bit.

"You're right, Granger, you deserve to know. Honestly, this news will hopefully change your life as much as it has changed mine. Please hear me out before you interrupt." He paused and waited for her to nod showing she agreed to not interrupt him until he had finished explaining what has happened. "I don't know if you are aware but my birthday was on June 5th. My mother made me aware of some family inheritance that may affect me based on my blood. At first I was so angry that she hadn't told me earlier that there was a chance of this happening."

"Of what happening?" Hermione questioned when Draco paused in his speech.

"I had enough of the blood that I went through the change. I have veela blood in my system and I had enough of it to change." Draco quickly stopped talking when he heard the gasp that came from his mate.

"A male veela! I've read about veelas. Male veelas are extremely rare. They are able to change more fully into the veela counterpart than female veela."

"That's correct, ten points to Gryffindor," Draco tried to joke. "I don't know if you know what I'm about to tell you next about male veela because it has been kept very quiet from the veela due to prejudice against them. Male veela, after their long painful change, will fall into a deep sleep. They will dream of a partner who will make their lives whole. This is a person who they will love and cherish forever because they are their mate. In some of the texts I read it was sad that the mate will also have the same dream as the veela, almost like a warning of what is to come."

"No. No, no, no, no, no!" Hermione exclaimed. "Are you trying to tell me that I am your mate? Is that why I fell asleep studying, I never do that. It's why I had that dream that I was at Hogwarts and someone found me studying by the lake. It was you?" Draco started to get nervous when he realized how worked up Hermione was getting herself.

"Yes." He simply stated. "You are my mate. I had the same dream you did except from my perspective. It's why the veela in me led me to your house and why I had to get you back to safety, I realize that the veela should not have thought the manor would have been a good idea for you. You are my mate, the one woman who can both make me happy and save my life, it if for this reason that I marked you as my own."

Hermione was silent for a while. She bit her lip and looked out over the lake to think about what was happening to her life. Malfoy was a slimy git and he was trying to tell her that they were supposed to be made for each other.

"You must be mistaken," Hermione stated with excitement thinking she had solved all of her issues. It made sense to her that the veela must have been confused when picking her, of course they couldn't be mates they have hated each other for years. "You're veela accidently thought that I was mate. I can't possibly be the girl that is supposed to make you happy because it's simple really. We hate each other. Not to mention that you aren't allowed to sully your bloodline with a mudblood. You must try to find your true mate so that you can find true happiness and we can just forget that this whole thing happened." Hermione finished looking at Malfoy expectantly. When she used her bossy bookworm voice most people saw that she was bright and listened to what she had to say. She started getting nervous when Malfoy just looked at her sadly not seeming to change his mind.

"Don't call yourself that," Malfoy growled angrily. "Granger, if you weren't my mate but I still infected you with my mating venom, as I did yesterday when I bit you, you would be dead right not. I know it forced you to be in a great deal of pain but you survived and that could only mean that my veela was correct."

"You're positive I'm your mate?" Hermione questioned to verify that there was no way out of this. Dread filled every ounce of her body when she watched Draco look directly into her eyes and nod his head in confirmation. Hermione ever determined to tackle a situation rationally nodded to herself. 'Okay Hermione. Maybe this isn't going to be awful. You testified for Malfoy so you know he isn't the same git he was in the beginning of his school years. Maybe he has changed and you have been a little lonely living in the empty house. But what if he hasn't? What happens to him if I don't accept the bond? Am I allowed to reject it? Do I have to make my decision right now?'

"I have a lot of questions Malfoy."

Suddenly Draco's face lit up. "I brought you books so that you could research what a male veela is and what it means to be ones mate. You can of course still ask me questions and I will answer them to the best of my ability."

"Okay I'm gonna ask you the questions now but I would appreciate reading the books later. My first question is do I have a choice in accepting or rejecting the bond?" Hermione noticed that Draco's face dropped when she asked this question. She was confused on why he would look so hurt but she still had to know the answer. Draco on the other hand understood why she would want to know if she had a choice but still couldn't shake the feeling of hurt knowing his mate might want to reject him.

"Yes, you definitely have a choice. I started the process yesterday buy biting you and giving you my venom. At any time in the next year that we decide to complete the mating ritual we can do that."

"What is the rest of the mating ritual? What happens to us if we do not complete it?" Hermione continued with her questions.

"As I said we have one year to complete the mating ritual. The rest of the mating ritual is similar to what I did to you yesterday except it is you doing it to me. If we decide to mate then the first time we have sex you will have to bite me, you'll know when it feels right. If you decide that you do not want to complete the mating ritual nothing bad will happen to you and you can continue on with your life and pretend this has never happened." Draco laughed to himself when he noticed the lovely blush that took over Hermione's face when he mentioned the two of them having sex. 'She really is pretty,' he thought to himself and lost himself in his thoughts while admiring his mate. 'Granger really is not the worst choice for a mate. Sure she can be annoying and is often bossy but she is also confident in her intelligence, kind, and has an understated natural beauty.'

Hermione quickly hid her face by looking down to the ground and letting her wild curly hair make a shield as soon as he mentioned the two of them having sex together. 'He wants me to bite him during…. That?!' After the beginning shock of hearing what the mating ritual was Hermione realized that Draco didn't answer her full question. She had asked what would happen to them if they didn't complete the bond and he only told her that nothing would happen to herself.

"What happens to you if we do not complete the bond?" She questioned

"It's nothing that you need to worry about Granger. If we do not complete the bond then I'll deal with the consequences." Hearing Draco's response Hermione was angry. He could tell by the way her hands balled into cute tiny fists and that her face instantly blushed red with anger.

"Malfoy you will tell me what the consequences are! You want us to start giving each other a chance to find love and happiness and you want to start by withholding the truth from me. If you think you can dominate me in a relationship then you surely have another thing coming." Draco was listening intently to her reasoning and could see her logic. He also felt a great sense of relief hearing that she was willing to try and see if they could find happiness. He had already made up his mind to tell her when he heard her last statement. Instantly Draco started thinking of all the ways he would love to dominate his mate and none of them were in the same context in which she was thinking.

"Malfoy, are you listening to me?!" Hermione growled when she noticed Malfoy getting lost in his own thoughts. He quickly turned his face to hers and Hermione admitted to herself that he had the most beautiful grey-silver eyes.

"Yes sorry, you're right. You do have a right to know all the consequences of not accepting the bond but I don't want you to feel forced to make any decisions you do not want to, do you understand?" Draco waited for Hermione to nod at him before continuing. "Male Veelas depend on their mates to keep them alive. If by my nineteenth birthday we are not mated I will start to feel the effects of a broken heart. A broken hearted veela will feel the shock and heart ache of knowing that they weren't good enough for their mate and that there mate did not want them. A broken heart can kill any male veela within six months of their nineteenth birthday but the stronger the veela the quicker the death. Unfortunately, I am a strong veela, it's why I had such a long change and why marking you last night caused you so much pain. But again you don't have to worry about this now. We have time to get to know each other's real selves and if you don't think I can make you happy my veela won't let you mate with me just to keep me alive because that would hurt you emotionally for the rest of your life."

When Draco finished his long rant he waited with bated breath for his mate to say anything. She just kept looking at him with different emotions flashing through her eyes so quickly he couldn't pick up on one before it was gone and another appeared.

"Malfoy are you saying that if I don't fall in love with you within the year then I'm going to be the reason you die?"

 **Authors Note: Ahhhh another chapter done! I can't believe that I wrote one chapter let alone 8! I hope you guys enjoyed what I wrote throughout this past week and as always I truly love to hear reviews from the readers. Reviews are the reason I continue to write! Hope everyone is having an amazing summer!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 **Authors Note: Hi guys don't hate me! I'm sorry I literally abandoned this fic for about a year but I got super busy with my senior year of college and couldn't give it the time it deserves. I'm gonna try to get back into writing this fic but we will see how it goes. I just reread everything I have written before (sorry for all my spelling/grammar mistakes) and it was like reading someone else's work it has been that long. Again I would appreciate any reviews cause I'm trying to get back into writing this and would love to know how the readers would like to see the story play out. Thanks again for your patience!**

 **June 6** **th** **1998**

Draco stood under the heated water beating down on his skin letting the days events drift through his mind. He could not even begin to comprehend how much his life has changed in such a short amount of time. Just two days ago his only concerns were figuring out what he wanted to do with his life now that he was free and everyone hated him and how badly he needed a shower after a long quidditch practice out back. Granted the first of those two problems felt really big at the time but now with the challenge he faced in front of him he would gladly go back to worrying about only that.

Not only did he have to try and make the all-knowing Hermione Granger fall in love with him but also he had to figure out his own feelings regarding the whole matter. Now that a little more time had passed since the whole being in pain for hours in order to turn into a veela thing his veela had gotten some rest and he felt more in tuned with that side of himself. Therefore, he knew that Hermione was his mate; that she was the one girl that could both save his life and bring him a lifetime of happiness. At the same time he was still Draco Malfoy and he still remembered all the reasons he didn't like her before.

He truly did not care about her blood status and if he was being honest with himself hadn't cared about such things in a very long time. However, he could still remember all their arguments in school. How annoying he found her in class when she always had to show off and prove to everyone that she was smart. That she had such high morals regarding others but thought the rules didn't apply to her and her friends and were constantly out breaking the rules themselves. At the same time he also remember that throughout school she was kind to others who she thought needed her help. That she was always willing to lend a hand to the first years that needed help on homework, even the Slytherins brave enough to face reticule from their classmates and willing to ask her. That she fought, stupidly as she should have fought to better their lives not free them, for the rights of house elves believing that they wanted to be free because she didn't like how they were treated.

He was, however, very pleased that Hermione reacted so poorly to finding out that she had his life in his hands. He was telling the truth that he didn't think the veela would allow Hermione to mate with him just to save his life but he didn't tell her of the times he read that the human took over and was desperate enough for life that he forced a bond. Of course he read that that had only happened twice. The first time the veela had slowly won over the love of his mate by doing everything he could to make up for forcing the bond. The second time did not end up as good though. The veela had felt so bad for his human insecurity that the veela had taken over and killed himself in order to save his mate from a life of misery in a forced relationship she did not want.

He was also glad that she didn't try to make empty promises about saving his life. He reflected that she had pulled a complete Granger move and handled the situation realistically. She had told him that she would try to give this a chance for she would never be able to forgive herself if she just left him to die without putting any effort into trying to make it work. She then told him that she was tired as it was getting late and that she wanted to go back to his room and read the books he had before showering as she felt dirty from all her crying and sweating from her fit in the manor.

Frowning he realized he had been standing in the steaming hot shower for so long that his skin had turned a nice shade of pink. Sighing he shut off the water and stepped out of the shower grabbing a towel. He quickly dried himself off and stepped out into the other room in order to change into his pajamas. It was then that he remembered that he had showered in the bathroom off the guest room next to his room as he had left his mate in his room to shower. His room had the nicer accommodations and he wanted her to have the best even if he didn't yet understand his feelings regarding her. Cursing slightly he made his was over to his room with just the towel handing low on his hips.

Draco hesitated for a moment outside his room and decided it was best to knock before barging in to the room even if it was his own room. After knocking twice he heard a quiet 'come in' from inside of his room and he smiled slightly and turned the nob.

Hermione who had just herself gotten out of the shower and changed into the set of clothes the house elves had left out was walking out of the bathroom into the main part of Draco's room.

"Eeep," Hermione shrieked as she saw Draco standing there in just his towel and still slightly damp from his shower. She quickly slapped a hand over her eye and spun around as to avoid embarrassing herself by gawking at him. Even if she was still processing everything that had happened today she could admit that he looked very good standing in the dim light of the room.

Draco, however, not processing why she had let out a shriek quickly felt the veela taking over and the protective instincts kicking in. In the blink of an eye his eyes darkened to midnight black and he was across the room and engulfing her as his wings wrapped themselves around their bodies and as he quickly grabbed her hips and turned her around to face him.

"Aaah," Hermione let out a quiet scream at the suddenness of Draco's presence and how quickly he was able to turn her around. Her hands left her face and she grabbed on to his shoulders for support from the quick move.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?" Draco questioned her in a slightly deeper than normal tone. To her mortification he quickly let go of her hips and started to roam his hands over her body as if to look for wounds or to look for the reason she had screamed earlier.

"N-n-nothing," Hermione stammered. She was slightly mortified to feel that her body liked the attention it was currently getting from the man literally surrounding her. Her hands still were clamped to his shoulders but at this time it was no longer for support she just couldn't bring herself to remove them. She could feel his muscles moving under her fingertips as he moved his arms still looking for injury.

"But you screamed," Draco continued his search, "You looked terrified." Finally he looked up into his mate's eyes and could see the light blush covering her face again from their close proximity. Hermione on the other hand was mortified that she now had to try and explain to a veela that she screamed like a school girl because a he entered the room half naked and hot and that she didn't know how to handle it.

"I'm fine, truly," she started. "It's just I didn't expect you to come into the room only wearing a towel and I overreacted. I'm sorry I didn't mean to set off your veela instincts but if I had any doubts before that this was a huge prank I don't anymore."

"I told you earlier that you were definitely my mate. I wasn't lying and this isn't a prank. How did this convince you of that?" Draco questioned and moved his hands back to her waist seemingly without noticing he was doing it.

"You didn't hesitate when I screamed. You ran right over here. You were willing to protect me and you're currently in your veela form. Also you have wings so you must be powerful. The books I read said only some male veelas will be powerful enough to have wings. How long was your transformation? Did you know that the longest recorded was 13 hours? How much did it hurt?" Hermione immediately stopped rambling when she looked up at Draco's face and noticed his slight smile at her one hundred questions. She snapped her jaw shut and immediately turned that nice shade of red that Draco was started to admit he found quite attractive and cute.

The veela in Draco understanding his mate was okay started to retract his wings from around his mate and his eyes started to return to his normal shade of grey-blue but didn't turn all the way. It left Draco with a darker shade of color that he someone also managed to pull off. Even with the veela retreated a little bit Draco did not let go of Hermione's waist and Hermione herself had not let go of Draco's shoulders. Seeming as if she forgot they were there.

"Of course I didn't hesitate when you screamed. I would never let anything harm you, not again. And yes apparently I am a powerful veela. I do have the wings and my shift was 11.5 hours long. It was the most excruciating pain. I have never felt anything so painful it was worst than Voldemort and Bellatrix's cruciatus curse combined."

Draco realized his mistake in bringing Bellatrix's name up too late but by then Hermione had already shuddered at the name and removed himself from his arms. Both his veela side and human side hated to see how she once again wrapped her arms around her midsection as if to keep herself together and upright. He silently vowed to himself that no matter what the outcome was of their relationship he would try to heal the wounds his family had put there.

"I'm sorry," he whispered dejectedly.

"It's okay," Hermione whispered back surprised that she had heard him apologize. "And I'm sorry that you had to go through that much pain for so long. When you marked me I thought I was going to die and I definitely didn't spend eleven hours in pain. I don't know if I could have survived that without going insane."

"It's okay. Unfortunately, I have been prepared for pain for most of my life from the two people I mentioned earlier, my father, and more." Draco said trying to sound nonchalant as if he wasn't bothered by these facts. Hermione, however, could see right through his façade and without realizing what she was about to do rushed to him and through her arms around is neck in a tight hug. Something that was a slight challenge giving her slight figure at 5'3'' and his much taller frame.

Draco surprised by the sudden contact when rigid in her arms at first. Then he quickly slid his arms around her waist and crushed her to himself. Surprised by his need for her comfort when he so rarely had had nice physical touch in the past. They stayed like that for some time before standing on her tiptoes bother Hermione and she slid down his frame. He very reluctantly let go of her hips and she took a small step back from him.

"I've never hugged a boy in just a towel," Hermione tried to joke.

"You better not have. I'd have to rip that boys head off," Draco growled his eyes flashing black again. With some visible effort Draco calmed down and registered what she said. "Sorry, my veela is a little possessive of you apparently. I better go change real quick. I'll be in the closet for a moment."

Hermione watched him walk away and head towards the walk in closet and could not help but notice how amazing he looked from this view as well. His back was muscular and his legs tense and relaxed with each step he took towards the closet. Blushing and slightly ashamed that she was gawking at the same guy she hated throughout her childhood Hermione turned around and walked over to his comfy chairs by the fireplace.

She heard rather than saw him sit in the chair next to her. Hermione didn't bother to turn to him yet as she was trying to determine what her next move was going to be. Draco could sense her indecision and rather than push her decided to let her come to him when she was ready to talk. He sat back and enjoyed the heat from the fire and the profile he admired while she stared at the fire oblivious to his staring at her. Finally she turned to him her teeth biting her lower lip making him want to groan and capture it between his own teeth.

"I understand that I am your mate. And I understand that we should probably take some time in the upcoming weeks getting to know each other and seeing if we are compatible in that way. I know your veela thinks we are but I have to think we are and your human side needs to agree as well. I think we should meet up tomorrow and get to know each other. If you agree then I think you can take me home now. My parent's house isn't set up to the floo network because I didn't want any unwanted visitors. You will have to side along apparate me because I didn't have a chance to grab my wand off the floor between fainting and you kidnapping me," Hermione finished with a smile. Draco, however, held a deep frown on his face.

"I don't think I can bring you back yet. I don't mean I want to keep you here forever as I realize this is the last place you want to be right now but my veela is too concerned with your safety to let you live in that house alone right now. And I'm too possessive to let you go live in the Burrow where there are far to many unmated males who would love to sink their claws into you. I promise if you stay here tonight we can go back to your house tomorrow and I will fortify it to make sure it is safe for the two of us to reside in after."

Hermione blinked at him a few times before trying to think about everything that he had just said. He was right that she didn't want to stay here. Not after what happened earlier and she wasn't going to inform him that she currently didn't want to go anywhere near the Burrow as she still was not talking to Ron.

"We are both going to stay at my house?" That was the only part of his rant that she could truly focus on. Draco had the decently to look red but held her eyes with his when responding.

"I can stay in a different room at your house or stay on the couch. I told you earlier I won't force you to do anything you do want to do with me but I can't leave you unprotected and my veela won't be able to live being that far away from you. Anyone could hurt you or you could see a different male who could offer you more. I'm sorry I know this is all annoying but it's all knew to me too."

"Will you stay on the couch in here tonight if we have to stay here. I don't think I can stand sleeping in this house knowing what happened here if I was alone in the room. And you don't have to worry about other males I'm not currently seeing anyone but you can stay at my house if it will make your veela more at ease."

"Of course," Draco replied touch that she would trust him enough with her safety tonight. He was also holding back his glee at her admitted he didn't have to worry about other boys. Not that he wouldn't worry cause he knew people were into her and that she didn't see how beautiful she truly was but hearing that she wasn't into anyone at the moment felt good. "And if you want until you are tired we can start to get to know one another tonight."

"How?"

"You ask me any question you have an I will answer honestly if you promise to do the same."

Though Draco was scared to open up to her, especially because he wasn't open with anyone, he was happy to see her smile up at him and give a nod of confirmation. He truly was lucky she was giving him the time of day.


End file.
